Lifetime friendship in our digital world
In the summer of 2011, Andrew and I hugged each other goodbye as we left behind the protective gates of university and walked into the real world.
I was excitedly marching into my first job. Andrew, being the more adventurous of us two, was busy packing for his travels to Cuba, to learn Spanish and explore the country.
“I’m sure we’ll meet often. After all, Cuba is quite close to the United Kingdom,” I casually remarked.
Andrew laughed.
“It’s been great to be your friend for our university years,” he said. “I truly admire your intelligence, curiosity and poor sense of geography!”
Havana is 7,300 kilometers from London, a distance I only managed to fully com- prehend many years later when I looked back and wondered why Andrew and I had met just a few times since our university days.
From Cuba, Andrew again went traveling, to Argentina, Brazil and Japan, to work, study, research and explore. I don’t ask him when he plans to be back in London, or if he is looking to settle into a specific city or job. An explorer at heart, he never has answers for such things.
In my mind, Andrew’s life is an extended gap year with no end. It is also through knowing Andrew that I started to understand how Britain had managed to produce legendary explorers such as Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake and Captain James Cook.
I, on the other hand, stayed on with my first job. Through time, it gave me identity and stability, which are values important to the Chinese culture.
Unlike my Chinese friends, whom I regularly go out with for food, drinks, movies and karaoke, I rarely see Andrew.
But on the handful of occasions when we have met up, we straight away delved into lengthy discussions, on politics, religion, culture, and everything else, just like our university days.
Andrew was born in the British Isle of Jersey to parents of Portuguese origin and traveled to London in the same year as me for university. We were both editors at our school newspaper. One Thursday evening every fortnight, our team would sit in our tiny office, frantically laying out the paper before print deadline.
Sometimes we finished early and headed to the student union to celebrate over drinks. More often than not, we would lose track of time and make last-minute edits until the security guards ordered us out of the building, often at midnight.
Helping and encouraging each other through these challenging and fun times made us great friends.
In a big city such as London, it is easy to make new friends. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp and WeChat have made it so easy to contact friends, but on the flip side also created pressure for us to stay very closely connected with friends.
But with Andrew, beyond the occasional postcards I receive from his travels, I do not even know which country he is in.
His last postcard arrived a month ago, sent from Jersey, sharing with me some latest reflections.
But I felt the brevity of the message did not at all diminish the weight of our friendship, or make me feel any less connected with him.
Our shared memories will never be lost. They will stay with us as treasured connection of hearts and minds for a lifetime.
Contact the writer at cecily.liu@ mail.chinadailyuk.com